Kaunain Bashir, Udakishunganj. The demand for setting up an ethanol plant in Udakishunganj subdivision is old. People of Madhepura district have been waiting for the plant to be set up for the last 14 years. There is Nitish Kumar government in Bihar for the last 14 years. Despite this, no steps have been taken yet in this direction. The hopes of the people of the district are getting shattered. In such a situation, people have written a letter to the Chief Minister reminding him of the promise of setting up an ethanol plant in the subdivision. It is mentioned in the letter that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had started this exercise in 2006 itself during his first regime. There was a plan to set up a sugar mill in Udakishunganj sub-division area of Kosi. There was a plan to generate electricity from sugarcane bagasse ash. The government has already given permission to make ethanol from sugarcane. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had also mentioned in the inauguration ceremony of Koilwar parallel bridge between Patna-Ara on 10 December 2022 that there are possibilities of business from ethanol in Kosi region also. Despite all this, the wait of the people of this district is not ending.
Work on ethanol started 14 years ago
There was talk of setting up a sugar mill in Udakishunganj. On July 30, 2006, the then sugarcane minister of the state government, Nitish Mishra, the then cabinet minister Narendra Narayan Yadav, the then MLA Renu Kushwaha reached Udakishunganj with Vijay Goyal, the owner of Dhampur sugar mill in Uttar Pradesh, regarding the setting up of the mill. Where officers, entrepreneurs and public representatives toured within a radius of 20 kilometers of the subdivision area. Then it was discussed that there was a need to set up a mill in the area. The entrepreneur described it as a suitable place to set up a mill. Entrepreneur Vijay Goyal had said that he will produce electricity through ethanol from sugarcane straw ash. There was a plan to sell electricity to the government.
Demand for sugarcane will increase due to opening of ethanol factory
Sugarcane is produced on a large scale in Bihar, especially in North Bihar area and there are some sugar mills also, but the number of sugar mills required is not running in Bihar. Now the Bihar government will use the land of the closed sugar mill to set up an ethanol factory. With the opening of the ethanol factory, the demand for sugarcane will increase on a large scale, which is expected to benefit the sugarcane farmers also. Besides, the Bihar government is also hopeful of increasing the production of ethanol from sugarcane and maize. While approving the ethanol production promotion policy in Bihar, it was also decided that subsidy will also be given by the government for ethanol production or setting up industry. It is noteworthy that earlier 28 percent of the total sugar production of the country was produced in Bihar.
Sweetness can come in the lives of sugarcane farmers
There is a possibility of adding sweetness to the lives of sugarcane farmers with the effort to promote ethanol in the state. Till now the life of farmers is in vain. The reason is that despite abundant farming, a sugar mill has not been set up in the sub-division area, whereas the effort to set up a mill had started 16 years ago. Three hundred acres of land was required for setting up the mill, out of which two hundred and eighty acres of land was acquired in Gamail of Bihariganj and Madhuban Mauza of Udakishunganj. Later, due to personal interest, some people kept the matter pending in the High Court.
farmers say
Farmers clearly say that the establishment of the factory would have benefited many farmers. Thousands of youth would get work by setting up the plant. Sugarcane is cultivated on about 15 thousand hectares of land in Udakishunganj sub-division area. Apart from this, there is immense potential for ethanol production from bamboo in Kosi. Farmers of Udakishunganj sub-division area, Naeem Uddin, Vakil Mehta, Jawahar Sharma, Manohar, Gopi Das, Birbal Das, Shankar Das Rajodas, Tiru Mehta, Gholat Mehta etc. said that if a mill is set up and an ethanol factory is opened, better doors for development will open. Thousands of idle hands will get work.